typewriter, any of various machines for writing characters similar to those made by printers’ types, especially a machine in which the characters are produced by steel types striking the paper through an inked ribbon with the types being actuated by corresponding keys on a keyboard and the paper being held by a platen that is automatically moved along with a carriage when a key is struck.

The invention of various kinds of machines was attempted in the 19th century. Most were large and cumbersome, some resembling pianos in size and shape. All were much slower to use than handwriting. Finally, in 1867, the American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes read an article in the journal Scientific American describing a new British-invented machine and was inspired to construct what became the first practical typewriter. His second model, patented on June 23, 1868, wrote at a speed far exceeding that of a pen. It was a crude machine, but Sholes added many improvements in the next few years, and in 1873 he signed a contract with E. Remington and Sons, gunsmiths, of Ilion, N.Y., for manufacture. The first typewriters were placed on the market in 1874, and the machine was soon renamed the Remington. Among its original features that were still standard in machines built a century later were the cylinder, with its line-spacing and carriage-return mechanism; the escapement, which causes the letter spacing by carriage movement; the arrangement of the typebars so as to strike the paper at a common centre; the actuation of the typebars by means of key levers and connecting wires; printing through an inked ribbon; and the positions of the different characters on the keyboard, which conform almost exactly to the arrangement that is now universal. Mark Twain purchased a Remington and became the first author to submit a typewritten book manuscript.

The first typewriter had no shift-key mechanism—it wrote capital letters only. The problem of printing both capitals and small letters without increasing the number of keys was solved by placing two types, a capital and lowercase of the same letter, on each bar, in combination with a cylinder-shifting mechanism. The first shift-key typewriter—the Remington Model 2—appeared on the market in 1878. Soon after appeared the so-called double-keyboard machines, which contained twice the number of keys—one for every character, whether capital or small letter. For many years the double keyboard and the shift-key machines competed for popular favour, but the development of the so-called touch method of typing, for which the compact keyboard of the shift-key machines was far better suited, decided the contest.

Another early issue concerned the relative merits of the typebar and the type wheel, first applied in cylinder models brought out in the 1880s and later. In modern machines of this variety the type faces are mounted on a circle or segment, the operation of the keys brings each type to correct printing position, and the imprint of type on paper is produced by a trigger action. The type-wheel machines offer an advantage in the ease with which the type segments may be changed, thus extending the range and versatility of the machine.

On nearly all typewriters the printing is done through an inked ribbon, which is fitted on spools, travels with the operation of the machine, and reverses automatically when one spool becomes completely unwound. On other machines an inking pad is used, the type contacting the pad prior to printing.

Noiseless typewriters

The noiseless linkage is a variation of the conventional typebar linkage causing the typebar to strike the platen at a lower velocity but with the same momentum. Although it produces less noise than the conventional typewriter, the noiseless typewriter cannot produce as fine an impression or as many carbon copies.

Electric typewriters

A significant advance in the typewriter field was the development of the electric typewriter, basically a mechanical typewriter with the typing stroke powered by an electric-motor drive. The typist initiates the key stroke, the carriage motion, and other controls by touching the proper key. The actuation is performed by the proper linkage clutching to a constantly rotating drive shaft. Advantages of this system include lighter touch, faster and more uniform typing, more legible and numerous carbon copies, and less operator fatigue. Especially valuable as an office machine capable of a high volume of output, electric typewriters are produced by all major typewriter manufacturers.

The first electrically operated typewriter, consisting of a printing wheel, was invented by Thomas A. Edison in 1872 and later developed into the ticker-tape printer. The electric typewriter as an office writing machine was pioneered by James Smathers in 1920.

In 1961 the first commercially successful typewriter based on a spherical type-carrier design was introduced by the International Business Machines Corporation. The sphere-shaped typing element moves across the paper, tilting and rotating as the desired character or symbol is selected. The motion of the element from left to right eliminates the need for a movable paper carriage.

Portable typewriters

The early portables of the late 19th century were slow, awkward, type-wheel machines. In 1909 the first successful portables appeared on the market. By the 1950s practically every typewriter manufacturer produced a portable typewriter; all of them were typebar machines similar in operation to the office machines. Designed with lighter parts than those of standard models, portables are more compact but less sturdy. Electrical operation of portable typewriters was introduced in 1956.

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